Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) Q1 earnings tumbled while revenues rose.
• Casella Waste Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CWST) posted a narrower-than-expected Q4 loss.
• CKE Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: CKR) Q1 earnings increased but its revenue slipped.
• Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) swung to a Q4 profit on strong sales at Olive Garden.
• Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) said it might not see Q2 profit growth on lower demand and shipping delays.
• General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) Q4 earnings declined but were in line with expectations.
• Gerber Scientific Inc. (NYSE: GRB) reported solid Q4 and full-year results that pleased investors.
• IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS) beat Q2 expectations and posted record quarterly cash flow from operations.
• Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL) stronger-than-expected Q3 results led to an analyst's upgrade.
• KB Home (NYSE: KBH) widened its Q2 loss due to weak sales and falling prices.
• Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) beat Q1 expectations as consumers sought discounts on food and gas.
• Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) beat Q3 earnings estimates but fell short of revenue estimates.
• Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) posted better-than-expected Q4 results boosted by international strength.
• Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) posted strong Q4 results that topped analysts' expectations (see transcript).

• Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) posted dismal results as revenue fell despite higher sales volume.
• Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) Q1 revenues soared as results beat Wall Street expectations.
• Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) posted disappointing results and lackluster guidance (transcript).
• Rite-Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) swung ot a larger-than-expected Q1 loss on integration difficulties.
• Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC) earnings warning took shares to a new 52-week low.
• Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE: SMA) beat Q1 estimates on increased demand and acquisitions.
• United Parcel Serivce (NYSE: UPS) cut its earnings forecast due to rising fuel prices and less demand.
• Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) posted sluggish Q3 results despite cost-cutting measures.

Also, do the results from Oracle, Research in Motion, and Red Hat point to a bottom for tech stocks? Will Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) new CFO be more likely to provide the guidance that analysts crave?

Upcoming results to watch for include H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ), Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL), Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO), WD-40 (NASDAQ: WDFC), and Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an August bull-put credit spread below the $25 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 4.2% return in just seven weeks as long as BBBY is above $25 at August expiration. Bed, Bath & Beyond would have to fall by more than 17% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

BBBY hasn't been below $25 for more than a few days in the past year and has shown support around $26.50 recently. This trade could be risky if the economic situation gets worse, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock might find around $26, where it bottomed in January.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in BBBY.

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Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) reported Q1 earnings on Wednesday, and Trey Thoelcke highlighted the numbers in this earnings-recap piece. Shares rose substantially in the after-hours trading session yesterday, jumping over 8%, and as I reviewed various earnings reports last night, I found myself drawn to the retailer's stock performance. I haven't been a huge fan of Bed Bath & Beyond as of late, so I figured I should take a look at the earnings release to see if there's anything here that would change my opinion.

Unfortunately, there isn't. Sales may have grown 6%, and expectations may have been beaten by $0.03, but net income still dropped over 20% to $0.30 per diluted share. Cash flow from operations declined 44% to $65.8 million. And same-store sales were very anemic, rising only 0.8%.

I choose, in this case, to focus on those figures. I also consider the fact that Bed Bath & Beyond does not pay a dividend, and that we are in an awful economic environment, both from a consumer and stock-market standpoint. This is not the stock I'd want to face the recession with, and I don't necessarily find it to be a big value right now. When it comes to retail, I am more likely to look at Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT). I'd even consider a Home Depot (NYSE: HD) or a Lowe's (NYSE: LOW). All of these stocks pay dividends and have better brand equities and more attractive prospects. Bed Bath & Beyond certainly didn't deliver an earnings bomb, but I'm still not inclined to put money here.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

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Bed, Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) is up over 7% on better-than-expected earnings.

Herman Miller (NASDAQ:MLHR) is up almost 10% on a strong quarter.

RIM (NASDAQ:RIMM) is off 8% on a weak forecast.

GM (NYSE:GM) is down 5% after a downgrade from Goldman.

Oracle (NADSAQ:ORCL) is down 3% on a poor forecast for the upcoming quarter.

Stocks may trade differently in the pre-market than they do in the regular session.

Douglas A. Mcintyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Here's a quick recap of some additional earnings reports on Wednesday.

Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) said strong growth overseas helped boost its fourth-quarter profit by 12% to $490.5 million, or 98 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected the company to earn 96 cents per share for the quarter. Shares fell more than 5% in after-hours trading to $62.15.

CKE Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: CKR) said its first-quarter profit climbed 8% to $16.6 million, or 31 cents per share, helped by a small increase in same-store sales at Carl's Jr. restaurants. Revenue fell 3% to $466.2 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected profit of 27 cents per share on revenue of $465.5 million. Shares fell 5 cents to $12.25 in after-hours trading.

Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) said its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 6.6% to $17.3 million, or 8 cents per share. Adjusted earnings were 18 cents per share. Revenue rose 32% to $156.6 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial on average predicted a profit of 18 cents per share on revenue of $153 million. Shares fell 19 cents in after-hours trading to $22.11.

General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) said its fourth-quarter profit dropped 17% to $185.2 million, or 53 cents per share. Adjusted earnings were 73 cents per share, which met Wall Street expectations. Sales increased 13% to $3.47 billion beating expectations. The company reaffirmed its guidance for the full year. Shares fell almost 2% to $61.19.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) said its fiscal first-quarter profit tumbled 27% to $76.8 million, or 30 cents per share, as costs outweighed sales growth. Sales rose 6.1 percent to $1.65 billion, Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected a profit of 27 cents per share on $1.62 billion in revenue. Shares rose 8.5% in after-hours trading to $31.00.

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Lehman initiated the Retail Hardlines Sector with a Neutral. The firm initiated coverage of Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) with Overweight ratings and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) and Williams Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) with Equal Weight ratings.
  
• Oppenheimer initiated Aventine Renewable (NYSE: AVR), Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ: PEIX) and VeraSun Energy (NYSE: VSE) with Perform ratings. The firm is cautious on the industry due to higher feedstock costs.
  
• UBS initiated Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) and Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) with Buy ratings and an $11 target and $62 target, respectively. The firm views valuation as attractive.

• Morgan Stanley assumed coverage of International Flavors (NYSE: IFF) with an Overweight rating.
  
• Wachovia initiated CGI Group (NYSE: GIB) with a Market Perform rating.
  
• Leap Wireless (LEAP) was initiated at RBC Capital with a Sector Perform rating and $55 target.

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Stocks started out in slightly positive territory on what appeared to be more good news out of a major institution. Then oil inventories showed an unexpected decline, sending oil up up over $2.00 per barrel to $110.56 and later even above $112. Throw in a couple of weak earnings reports and the fears that earnings season is going to be tough, and the bears got to rule today.

Below are today's unofficial closing levels for major US index levels:

Dow: 12,328.49, down 0.38%; Nasdaq 2,322.12, down 1.13%; S&P 1354.56, down 0.8%

Full 52-Week Lows.

Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) saw a sharp drop today, and that was before the earnings news was out after the close. A Piper Jaffray downgrade led to the sharp drop today.

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) proved to be a typical example of what is becoming redundant. The company lined up a sale of $12 billion of dollars worth of leveraged loans for some 90 cents on the dollar.

Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) saw another drop, this one taking it to a new 52-week low and post-Mikey return. The prior low had been $18.87. Maybe unveiling that low-priced laptop wasn't such a good idea. This just continues what has been an ongoing onslaught.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) and MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD) were today's "daily uglies" on news that Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) has warned of lung cancer risks in diabetes patients in the inhaled insulin program. Nektar is now marking the end of its Exubera treatment.

TheStreet.com (NASDAQ: TSCM) saw shares fall today despite signing a three-year renewal contract with co-founder Jim Cramer.

United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) gave an earnings warning this morning, although shares held up remarkably well for a market that has trouble pricing in events currently. This was one of the larger blames on the market drop today, although in a weakening economy you'd think that eventually gets factored in.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Bernstein downgraded Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) to "market perform" from "outperform" according to Briefing.com. The news service also reports that Citigroup initiated Southern Cooper (NYSE: PCU) with a "sell".

Banc of America Securities said that Allstate (NYSE: ALL) may miss first quarter earnings due to payments for storm damages according to the AP.

Clear Channel (NYSE: CCU) cut to "hold" at Stanford Research according to 24/7 Wall St. The website also reports that Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) cut to "sell" at Piper Jaffray

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Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) is scheduled to report Q4 EPS on April 9.

BBBY call option volume of 2,511 contracts compares to put volume of 17,758 contracts. BBBY April option implied volatility is at 64, May is at 53, above its 26-week average of 40 according to Track Data, suggesting hedging for downside price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

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Consumer electronics retailer Circuit City Stores Inc. (NYSE: CC) and leading domestics retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NYSE: BBBY) are scheduled to report earnings tomorrow. Here's a quick peek ahead of results.

Circuit City has fallen short of earnings estimates in the past five quarters. When the Richmond, Virginia-based company reported fourth-quarter results back in November, its loss of 64 cents per share was deeper than the 31 cents per share loss forecast by analysts polled by Thomson Financial, as well as the nine cents per share loss in the same period of 2006. For the current quarter, analysts expect the loss to narrow to six cents per share, compared to a profit of 61 cents in the year-ago quarter.

The company's earnings per share growth forecast for this year is a dismal -92.7%, worse than the industry average, as well as the 2.45% of rival Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY). So it's little surprise that the analysts' consensus recommendation is to hold Circuit City, and has been for at least three months. Shares are trading much closer to the 52-week low of $3.44 from mid March than the 52-week high of $19.12 from almost a year ago. The share price closed Monday at $4.76, and fell to about $4.62 in early trading Tuesday.

For more about pressure to oust the CEO, to drop Circuit City from the S&P 500, or other news that could influence earnings results, see BloggingStocks' Circuit City coverage.

Union, New Jersey-based Bed Bath & Beyond has beat earnings expectations in the past four quarters. When it reported fourth-quarter results back in November, its 52 cents per share earnings beat the consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial by a penny, and was up two cents from the same period of the previous year. For the current quarter, analysts expect 64 cents per share, down from 79 cents in the year-ago quarter.

The company's earnings per share growth forecast for this year is -7.19%, worse than the industry average and the S&P 500. The consensus analysts' recommendation has recently shifted from buy back to hold Bed Bath & Beyond. Shares closed Monday at $31.11, up from the 52-week low of $24.49 in early January, and surged to $31.70 in early trading Tuesday.

For analyst downgrades and other news that could influence the earnings results, see BloggingStocks' Bed Bath & Beyond coverage.

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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• PDUFA date for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY)'s supplemental Biologics License Application for Orencia for the treatment of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.
• Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 5pm.

• Chattem Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTT) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 9:00am.
• FOMC to release minutes of the March 18th meeting at 2:00pm.
• Embraer-Empr Bras Aeronautica (ADR) (NYSE: ERJ) conference call to announce new midsize & midlight executive jet concepts at 6:00pm.

• 2-Day House Financial Svcs Committee: Hearing on Economic, Mortgage and Housing Rescue Bill.
• Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher to deliver a speech in San Antonio at 1:30pm.
• Hot Topic, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOTT) to report March sales at 4:00pm.
• Bed Bath and Beyond, Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 5:00pm.

• 2-Day House Financial Svcs Committee: Hearing on Economic, Mortgage and Housing Rescue Bill.
• The Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) to report March sales at 8:00am, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) to report March sales at 8:15am, Kohl's Corporation (NYSE: KSS) and Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) to report March sales at 8:30am.
• Genentech, Inc. (NYSE: DNA) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 4:45pm.

• Fastenal Company (NASDAQ: FAST) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 10:00am.
• Shaw Communications Inc. (NYSE: SJR) to report Q2 earnings; conference call at 11:00am.

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MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• JP Morgan downgraded Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) to Underweight from Neutral citing recent sales commentary from competitors and the difficult macro environment.
  
• Oppenheimer cut DSW Inc (NYSE: DSW) to Perform from Outperform following the company's Q1 miss and lower than expected guidance, as they see little visibility in the coming quarters.
  
• Piper downgraded shares of Oplink Communications (NASDAQ: OPLK) to Sell from Neutral following the company's negative earnings preannouncement and lowered their target to $9.00 from $14.

• Tiffany (NYSE: TIF) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Merrill.
  
• Goldman cut National Semiconductor Corp (NYSE: NSM) to Sell from Neutral.
  
• Wellpoint (NYSE: WLP) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Lehman.

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MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Sigma Designs (NASDAQ: SIGM) was lowered to Neutral from Outperform at Baird citing checks that indicate a more muted revenue outlook in 1H08 vs. 2H07.
  
• Soleil downgraded shares of Sky West (NASDAQ: SKYW) to Hold from Buy to reflect the high-fuel-price environment and headwinds from the legacy carrier consolidation.
  
• Bear Stearns downgraded UBS (NYSE: UBS) to Peer Perform from Outperform on concerns of further subprime write-downs.

• Dresdner Kleinwort downgraded Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) to Hold from Buy.
  
• Morgan Joseph lowered Superior Essex (NASDAQ: SPSX) to Hold from Buy.
  
• Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.

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MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Jefferies believes Intellon (NASDAQ: ITLN) is well-positioned to benefit from increasing IPTV rollouts in Europe and Asia, as well as from additional consumer applications in the digital home. The firm assumed shares with a Buy rating and $9 target.
  
• Jefferies also initiated coverage of Memsic (NASDAQ: MEMS) with a Buy rating and $10 target, as they view the company as a compelling investment for investors seeking exposure to high-quality semiconductor companies benefiting from lower-cost China manufacturing.
  
• Banc of America initiated MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) with a Neutral rating and $76 target, as they are cautious on Las Vegas in 2008 due to decelerating U.S. gaming revenue growth and increasing Strip room supply growth between 2008-2010.

• Thomas Weisel initiated Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) with a Market Weight rating.
  
• Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) and News Corp (NYSE: NWS) were started with Equal Weight ratings at Morgan Stanley.
  
• Merrill initiated Baidu.com (NASDAQ: BIDU) with a Buy rating and $430 target.

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• Wrigley (NYSE: WWY) was upgraded by JP Morgan to Overweight from Neutral due growing international business.
• Phillips (NYSE: PHG) was downgraded at Merrill from Overweight to Underweight due to softer macro environment. Lehman Brothers also downgraded the company from Overweight to Underweight.
• Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) and Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS) were upgraded by UBS from Neutral to Buy
• Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) was upgraded by Oppenheimer from Perform to Outperform. Shares are up 3.75% in premarket trading.

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Doesn't it seem like another day where it is impossible to make money? We have earnings season without any sense that anybody's numbers can be raised. We have an ennui that comes from months of pounding and indecision, and we have stocks that can't seem to go up to save their lives.

Take retail and restaurants. Yet you can't help but wonder whether a Darden (NYSE: DRI) (Cramer's Take) or a Brinker (NYSE: EAT) (Cramer's Take) or a Coach (NYSE: COH) (Cramer's Take) or a Limited (NYSE: LTD) (Cramer's Take) can come back. You can't help but wonder if there's not an Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) (Cramer's Take) out there that can turn around or a TJX (NYSE: TJX) (Cramer's Take) that can suddenly hold its own and start rising.

Can Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) (Cramer's Take) be that bad? Are J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) (Cramer's Take) and Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) (Cramer's Take) never coming back? Did Macy's (NYSE: M) (Cramer's Take) so shoot itself in the foot that it can't recover?

Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) (Cramer's Take)? Saks (NYSE: SKS) (Cramer's Take)? Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) (Cramer's Take)? What about Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ) (Cramer's Take) and Jones NY (NYSE: JNY) (Cramer's Take)?

Does anyone even know how vicious the bear market in these stocks is? Not all of these companies are brain-dead.

Or how about Morton's (NYSE: MRT) (Cramer's Take), Ruth's (NASDAQ: RUTH) (Cramer's Take), Ruby Tuesday (NYSE: RT) (Cramer's Take)? Can't they be worth something?

Ever since the collapse of private equity these stocks have declined pretty relentlessly. They have worn people down like you wouldn't believe.

But what happens in a turn? Shouldn't we think about putting on a basket of these? Maybe that Mortons/Ruth's/Ruby group?

Their balance sheets are almost all really strong. The consumer can come back. The earnings stream is there.

Costco (NASDAQ: COST) (Cramer's Take) isn't the only retailer in this country doing well, give or take Guess (NYSE: GES) (Cramer's Take) and J. Crew (NYSE: JCG) (Cramer's Take), Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) (Cramer's Take) and TJX (NYSE: TJX) (Cramer's Take).

But the group has been gaffed and gutted. Somehow I think that some of these can come back. I know it's not gonna happen now. Too many questions. But when? When things turn you won't be able to buy these anywhere near where they are.

Yet, in a world where gasoline seems like it is marching to $4/gallon, where McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) (Cramer's Take), which I own for Action Alerts PLUS, can be crushed in a heartbeat and when gold's going to $1,000, the conventional wisdom of just forgetting this group seems to be playing out perfectly.

Yet, one has to wonder how a solid chain with good financials and good balance sheet simply can't be a buy soon, especially when it is just six months from lapping some really bad numbers.

What really weighs against it besides the consumer? Too many stores and restaurants. Until we see some closings, some trimmings, some shuttings and some bankruptcies, as we saw in 1990, I guess the operative wisdom is "Forget about it."

Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. At the time of publication, Cramer was long McDonald's.

RELATED LINKS:

• How to Outperform the Market and Manage Risk With ETFs
  
• When Herb Greenberg Guesses, It's Time to Worry
  

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• Apple and China Mobile have called off talks to launch the iPhone in China. The talks have so far fueled speculation the device will hit the country's store shelves soon.
• As for the iPhone being used as a web browser, reports have indeed showed increased traffic to search engines from the iPhone, surpassing others, despite it holding only a 2% share of smartphones. On Christmas, traffic to Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) from iPhones surged, surpassing incoming traffic from any other type of mobile device (it later fell below Nokia-backed Symbian operating system phones). Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) also said "iPhones accounted for a disproportionate amount of its mobile traffic."
• And, for all your Macworld coverage, be sure to check Engadget.

• Credit Suisse upgraded Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY), Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) from Neutral to Outperform.
• HSBC Securities downgraded Teva Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: TEVA) from Overweight to Neutral.
• JP Morgan upgraded General Mills (NYSE: GIS) from Underweight to Neutral.

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